It is not unusual for a presidential candidate to try to win friends and influence voters. That's what elections are about, so we tend to excuse political posturing when we see it - because we have come to expect a certain amount of it. Besides, we like people who pay attention to us.

Six years ago, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was working to broker a deal with a Democratic colleague that would steer $20 billion in relief to struggling state governments when she was abruptly called into the office of House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R). Waiting there was Vice President Richard B. Cheney, who had a stern message. He warned her - "very strongly," according to Collins - that Republicans, who controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House, were in no mood to compromise with moderate Democrats.

Congressional Republicans lack President Barack Obama's bully pulpit and do not have the majorities that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid enjoy. But they are playing their hand extraordinarily well.

In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama said, "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified." Or as administration spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said in January, the touchstone is, "What will have the biggest and most immediate impact on creating private sector jobs and strengthening the middle class? We're guided by what works, not by any ideology or special interests."

Like many Americans, we are impressed with the goals outlined in the Obama administration's economic stimulus package, goals that would promote short-term economic recovery but also jump-start needed reforms in key areas like public education, which in turn will accelerate long-term economic growth.